I have a hoard of LEGO kits that passed from me to my nephew, and now to my son. Some of the kits that are included with the set date back to the early 1970's. Are there any health risks with passing the older kits down to my son? Have there ever been recalls or warnings published about the chemical make-up of older bricks?

5 Answers
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The most important thing is to make you keep any swallowable magnet out of reach.

This is potentially lethal if two magnets are swallowed and attrach each other from different part of the intestine, as unfortunately did happen to a kid a few years back with some other toy. That's why LEGO has completely redesigned train magnets to be completely encased in the buffers, which are a way too big element to swallow.

I'm not aware of a recall due to the chosen materials - as noted in this question the LEGO Group switched to their current material (ABS) in 1963, however the exact composition may vary from modern bricks.

A health risk with old, well used hand me down bricks is the possibility of broken pieces and foreign objects like staples, glass shards, old batteries, (loose magnets!) and stuff being mixed in with the elements. It's always a good idea to check through them before you hand them over to the next generation of builders.

Below 3 years old, they tend to explore what the world has to offer by putting small bricks in their tiny noses. for these reasons, an adult need to be there all the time brick toys are in use. If the bricks happen to be the adult`s toy, rigorously stowing them away when not playing is in order.

Indeed, there's a reason LEGO sets carry a "not suitable for children under 36 months" warning. All kids are different though and if they're still inserting things at 4 then adjust accordingly ;)
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Zhaph - Ben Duguid♦Nov 1 '11 at 8:46